As Told by Hikari
by Seinaru Kibou no Tenshi
Summary: (COMPLETE BUT NEW EPILOGUE!) When Miyako asks Hikari to come with Ken and her on a double date, she invites Takeru to go with her as a friend. But is she herself able to keep it platonic? (Traditional Takari inspired by 'As Told by Ginger')
1. Double Date Trouble

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If it wasn't for Toei and Akiyoshi Hongo, I would own Takeru, Digimon. Because of them, however, all I own is some rather dodgy merchandise. Anyway, this is probably the most traditional Takari I'll ever write. It's very much in the tradition of teen romance. Hope you enjoy it. 

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AS TOLD BY HIKARI

CHAPTER ONE OF FIVE

'DOUBLE DATE TROUBLE'

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I do not love thee! - no! I do not love thee!

And yet when thou art absent I am sad;

And even even the bright blue sky above thee,

Whose quiet stars may see thee and be glad.

~ Lady Caroline Norton

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"Just so you know, Hikari, you're going on a double date with Ken and me tomorrow night," Miyako told her friend casually, as they were sitting together in the school cafeteria and eating lunch. The younger girl spluttered on her cola and stared at her friend incredulously. She couldn't have heard her correctly. By definition, a double date meant two couples going to a dinner or a film together. And, as far as Hikari knew, she herself did not have a boyfriend. 

"I'm WHAT?" 

"Ken asked me if I wanted to see a film with him," Miyako explained, "I said it would be best if we made it a double date with you and some guy, because . . . well, you know me. I won't know what to say him and we'll stand around in the cinema feeling like complete idiots. Or I'll go on and on and on mindlessly about things that aren't the least bit interesting to him, and make him think I'm a complete and utter airhead," she paused to take a deep breath, "Having you there would take a lot of the pressure off. If you're any friend of mine, you'll say yes and tell me who you're going to take." 

Hikari knew precisely whom she wanted to take, but the odds of that happening were slightly less than the moon falling on her head. Automatically, she searched the cafeteria for Upperclassman Aki. Her stomach gave an odd, little hop inside her as she spotted him. He had blond hair, gelled in the sort of casual style that she knew took hours to achieve. His eyes were blue, but the dusky blue of evening when the sun was just beginning to set and purple crept across the sky. A stud glittered in his right ear. He was easily the most beautiful boy she had ever seen. He was sitting at his usual table in the corner, demonstrating the basketball shot that had won Odaiba's senior team the last game. Ever since the day she had seen him in the hall, she had known that she was going to marry him. It didn't even matter that he didn't know she existed or that he still thought he liked model-pretty girls with long legs and lipglossed smiles. She was going to be Mikage Hikari one day. (1)

"Why don't you ask Upperclassman Aki?" Miyako demanded, tapping her glass with her fork to get her attention, "A double date would be the most perfect way to get to know him without the stress. I'll go with you, if you want." 

Hikari frowned at her. It was one thing to know that they were destined to be together, to have perfect dates with him in her daydreams and plan her wedding day in her diary. It would be quite another to go up to him and actually _ask_. Besides, she had the secret suspicion that Upperclassman Aki would think a double date ridiculously childish. 

"I'll ask somebody else," she said hastily, because it looked Miyako was about to get out of her seat. 

"Liiiiiike?" Miyako leaned closer and stared at her over her glasses. Feeling like an insect caught under a microscope, Hikari squirmed in her seat. The problem was that she didn't know whom to ask. The only boys she knew to ask were her fellow Chosen Children. Of them, Iori was too young, and Jyou was too old. Sora wouldn't speak to her for a week if she invited Yamato, while Koushirou would spend the whole evening talking about improvements to the D3 with Ken. Not to mention that it would be cruel, since he had the biggest crush on Miyako. And Daisuke would take it the wrong way, like he always did. He wasn't an option, anyway. He was still smarting from her last rejection of him, which was why he was sitting with his soccer buddies instead of them. _That left . . . _

"Space at your table for one more, ladies?" a cheerful voice said from behind her. She glanced over her shoulder to see Takeru standing there with a tray of food in his hands and a broad smile on his face. Three months after they had started junior high, it was still weird to see him without a hat. Ever since she had known him, he had worn a hat of one kind or another. The change in fashion wasn't through his own choosing, however. Much to his disgust, on the first day of school, he had been informed it wasn't part of the dresscode and had been made to take it off. He looked almost naked without it, but not nearly as wrong as Daisuke did without his goggles.

"You know you don't have to ask, idiot." 

"Forgive me for having manners," he shot back, dropping his tray onto the table and swinging his legs over the bench. Hikari scooted to the side to give him more room. 

Twirling some noodles suspiciously around his chopsticks, "What is this stuff?" 

"I'd tell you, but the shock would kill you," she replied in her most ominous tones. Takeru shrugged and began to shovel noodles into his mouth. 

"Can we get back to the topic at hand?" Miyako said impatiently, "Who are you going to take on our double date this Friday night?" 

"Double date?" Takeru asked, pausing with his laden chopsticks poised in midair. Hikari looked at him with a speculative expression on her face. There was no reason she could not invite Takeru to go with her. Her best friend was a boy. And, if she took the other girls in her class as a guide, he was an incredibly good-looking boy too. All of them kept asking her if Takeru was single, then squealing happily and hugging her when she told them he was. She tilted her head, frowning. She couldn't see it herself. Whenever she looked at him, she saw the eight year-old boy looking back at her with innocent, blue eyes and his sudden, sunshine smile. However, considering she had twenty-four hours to find a date, he would do. 

Besides, she added to herself, it would get rid of all of the pressure. If Takeru were there, it would be more like hanging out with her friends than a proper date. 

"Uh huh, but I don't have a date. Are you free from seven on Friday, Takeru?" 

He nodded, "I think so." 

Hikari beamed at him, "It's settled. I'll come to your place at seven." 

"Great," Miyako sighed, slumping in her seat, "While we're at it, why don't we just invite Daisuke and Iori, and go save the Digital World?"

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"I'll see you tomorrow, Aya, Kasumi," Hikari called to her friends, as she paused at her locker. Balancing her bag on her hip, she dialled her combination and opened its door. As was the fashion, it was decorated with various pictures. She smiled at the one of Upperclassman Aki that she had taken at a soccer-match, officially for the school newspaper and unofficially for her private shrine. He had just scored the winning goal, and was being carried off the field on the shoulders of his teammates. He looked so happy, so triumphant, like he had gotten his heart's desire. She wondered if he would ever smile at her like that. _Like you'd ever be what Mikage Aki wanted_, she thought with a snort, reaching in her locker for her homework books_. _

As Hikari pulled out her history book, a purple envelope fluttered onto the floor. Her name was written on the front of it in Miyako's large, loopy handwriting. Her friend had obviously slipped it into her locker after class. _No prizes for guessing what it says. Probably a long ramble about how I let her down by inviting Takeru on our date. _Sighing, she stooped to pick it up, and slit it open with the edge of a fingernail. Inside, on a sheet of matching paper, was written: 

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Dear Hikari, 

I thought about our double-date all through Maths class, and I take it all back. I'm totally glad that you and Takeru are going out with Ken and me on Friday night. You two are perfect for each other, as I've always said, and I'm glad you've finally seen that. 

Love,

Miyako

Laughing, Hikari folded the paper and slipped it into her bag. Trust Miyako to get hold of the wrong end of the stick. One of the reasons she was going with Takeru was that he was about the only guy in the school who wouldn't get the wrong idea when she asked him out on a date. They knew where they stood with each other: they were best friends and no amount of dates in the world would - or could - change that between them. 

She slammed her locker shut, then hurried home. 

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"You. Me. _Ranma 1/2_ marathon. Tomorrow night," Taichi told Hikari, spooning scrambled eggs onto a plate and placing it in front of her on the table. She wrinkled her nose at the food. She had learnt a long time ago that her brother could cook anything, provided it came in a shell and was laid by a chicken. As her culinary skills extended to burning water, however, she suspected she should be grateful he had volunteered to cook when he had heard their parents were going to a farewell dinner. (2)

"Sounds fun, but I have a date." 

"Aki came to his senses?" he asked in surprise, taking the seat opposite her and picking up his fork. 

"Nope. Miyako lost hers," Hikari speared a piece of egg and put it in her mouth, "'E towd 'e 'at I wash . . . ." 

"Talk or eat! Choose one!"

Swallowing, "I mean, she told me that I was going on a double date with her and Ken this Friday." 

"Miyako and Ken, there's a surprise," he rolled his eyes, and Hikari giggled. Miyako had certainly never made a secret of her feelings for Ken. The last time Mimi had had a costume party, she had pitched up in a wedding dress and told everyone that she had chosen to be Mrs Ichijouji. Poor Ken had been crimson beneath his Chichiri mask, "But who is the lucky boy who gets to take out my baby sister? More importantly, will I get to meet him and get to give him the 'concerned' big brother treatment? You know, 'if you even look at her the wrong way, you'll be singing soprano for the rest of your short life'." 

"Very clever, Taichi. What movie did you steal that one from?" she grinned as her brother made a face at her, "But I'm afraid you're going to have to save it. I'm just going with Takeru." 

"Really? That's great, but I didn't think you two were . . . ." he made a vague, fiddling gesture with his hands that Hikari guessed was meant to represent being in love. She sighed. What was wrong with everybody? Her brother knew her better than anyone else, and he was jumping to the same conclusions about her and Takeru as Miyako had that morning. He knew that they were best friends, that they had been best friends since they were all of eight, and he still believed that she could have romantic feelings for him. She hoped Takeru also didn't have the wrong idea about why she had asked him out. 

"We aren't," she replied firmly, "We're going as friends." 

"Can I give him the speech anyway?" Taichi asked hopefully. 

"No!" 

"Damn." 

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NOTES:

(1) Mikage Aki is from _Ayashi no Ceres_. In English, I think it's called _Eerie Ceres _or _Ceres Celestial Legend_. I've only seen it in Japanese. Anyway, I have a picture of him up on my webpage, because I don't think any description does him justice. You have to see him to believe him. To do so, go to http://www.geocities.com/textualchemy/digiomake.html 

(2) _Ranma 1/2 _is an incredibly famous and enormously long manga\anime by Takahashi Rumiko. It's basically about an unfortunate boy who falls into the Spring of the Drowned Maiden, and ends up becoming a girl whenever he's splashed with cold water. Hence, Ranma 1/2. At the same time, his father organises a marriage to this really vicious girl by the name of Akane. If you haven't read it or heard about it, you've probably been in the Digital World. 

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CHALLENGE: 

There are two other references to these shows in this chapter. Official No Prize for the person who can tell me what they are!

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If you click the review button, a magic genie will grant you three wishes. That, or you'll make one of mine come true! ^.~ 


	2. The Tachikawa Treatment

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Takeru and Hikari do not belong to me. They belong with each other. This is obvious. ^.^

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AS TOLD BY HIKARI

CHAPTER TWO OF FIVE

'THE TACHIKAWA TREATMENT'

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I do not love thee! - yet, I know not why,

Whate'er thou dost seems still well done, to me:

And often in my solitude I sigh

That those I love are not more like thee! 

~ Lady Caroline Norton

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"Yagami Hikari, you are a fashion emergency!" Mimi lamented as she flipped quickly through the contents of her wardrobe. Sitting on her bed, Hikari started to wonder if it had been a good idea to ask her to get ready for the date. An hour ago, when she had been staring desperately at her clothes, it had seemed like a godsend that Mimi was back in Odaiba. After the Digimon had appeared in New York, Mr Tachikawa had decided to pack in his work there and return to Japan. Mimi had not been as pleased as he had hoped, mainly because it had meant leaving Michael behind. Officially, they were still having a long-distance relationship, but everyone could see that she was getting closer to Kido Jyou every day. They had even been to dinner the other night. If she had had to name her most unlikely couple, it would have been those two, but they seemed happy with each other. She guessed there had to be something between them that she did not see or understand. 

"Wait . . . . I think there's hope for you!" she chirped, reaching inside and pulling out an outfit. Hikari sweatdropped when she saw what it was. It was a pink, babydoll dress, ruched to fit snugly beneath her breasts and be pulled down onto her shoulders. One of her mother's less successful birthday presents, she thought she had given that particular outfit away to charity. Mimi held it up against herself, modelling it with a graceful twirl. 

"This is so perfect!"

"It's a dress," she protested, "I don't do dresses." 

"You do now," Mimi thrust the bundle of pink fabric at Hikari, "Change." 

With a sigh, Hikari stripped off her white poloneck and pulled the dress over her head.

She wished again that she had asked Sora to help her get ready for her date. Mimi might have been a part-time model and a full-time mallrat, but she had a tendency to take things to extremes. This was getting way deeper into frilly territory than she had ever wanted to go. She had the horrible suspicion that very soon a pink stetson would be mentioned as the _perfect_ accessory. Stepping out of her jeans, she adjusted the dress so that it fitted her more comfortably, then padded barefoot to her chevalle mirror. 

Grudgingly, she had to admit that Mimi had been right. In the dress, she looked almost like the sort of girl who would be on the cover of a teen magazine. Her legs seemed longer, her waist had a suggestion of a curve, even her neck seemed more graceful. Unfortunately, on the downside, the cut of the bodice drew attention to the fact that she had very little there that was worthy of attention. She was flatter than most of the boys in her class. Miyako kept saying she would grow into her bra, but there were few signs that that was ever going to happen. She wondered why she cared. It wasn't like Takeru would. He didn't think of her as a girl, and she certainly didn't want him to start doing so. 

"You're so pretty!" Mimi cooed, "Now, we just need to pad your bra and you'll look even prettier!" 

Hikari's arms crossed protectively over her chest, "P-pad my bra?" 

"Uh huh," her friend nodded, happily pulling out handfuls of tissues from the dispenser on Hikari's desk, "When I was in America, all of us girls used to do it. You'd be surprised what a difference it makes." 

"No padding," Hikari said hastily, "Like I told you when I phoned, it isn't a real date, Mimi. Takeru and I are just going to keep Miyako company, because she's nervous of being alone with Ken and having nothing to say and making him think she's an idiot. That's the only reason we're going together. It's not like we're dating or anything." 

Still clutching the tissues, Mimi clasped her hands together. She had a dangerously starry expression in her eyes, "Takeru? Takaishi Takeru? Yamato's little brother? Oh, Hikari, you two will be so cute together. You'll make such a great couple. I've always said it, haven't I?" 

With difficulty, Hikari prevented herself from rolling her eyes. Mimi hadn't heard a word she'd said beyond 'Takeru and I'. It was like the time they had gone to see _Romeo and Juliet_, and the older girl had only realised they had died once Sora mentioned it after the movie. She had cried for hours afterwards too. The instant Mimi suspected Romance Was In The Air, she went off into a fantasy world of her own. And, in that fantasy world, Takaishi Takeru and Yagami Hikari had been madly in love since they were eight. 

"We. Aren't. A. Couple," she said slowly, as if speaking to a younger child, "This. Is. Not. A. Date." 

"Pish," Mimi dismissed her reply with a wave of a perfectly-manicured hand, "You didn't call me over to give you the Tachikawa Treatment for nothing, Hikari. I know you're nervous about admitting your real, deep feelings for Takeru, but there's nothing worse than lying about them. You're only hurting yourself."

Hikari sighed, picking up her hairbrush from her dresser and running it through her shoulder-length hair. There was no point arguing with Mimi when she got an idea into her head. She had only asked for her help, because Miyako said to dress nicely. It was absolutely ridiculous to think she was dressing up for Takeru. It wasn't like she was shy or picky about what she wore around him. He had seen her in everything from her _Hello Kitty!_ pyjamas to the _Pokemon_ tracksuit her well-meaning grandmother had made her for Christmas and her mother had insisted Hikari wear when she came to visit. _But he's never seen me like this._ The thought came unbidden into her head. _Will he think I'm pretty?_ She slammed the hairbrush down onto the counter. She'd definitely been spending too much time around Mimi. She was beginning to get sucked into her fantasy world. She had to get out of there before she truly believed she cared whether Takeru thought she was beautiful or not. 

"I've got to run, Mimi, or I'll be late," she said, hoping she sounded sincere. It was only half-past-six, and the Takaishi's apartment block was only a few minutes walk from her own. She could almost have left at seven and arrived on time. Still, the lie was necessary for the sake of her sanity. 

"Don't you want me to do your make-up?" 

"I don't have time," she replied, then added more honestly, "Thanks for all your help. You've done a great job." 

"Have fun," Mimi had a knowing smile on her face, "And don't do anything I wouldn't do!" 

*

"This is not a date," Hikari told herself firmly as she stood on the Takaishi's doorstep, "Ignore Mimi. Ignore Taichi and Miyako. Takeru is your best friend, and this is not a date."

Breathing deeply, she pressed the doorbell. 

"Coming," a muffled voice called from inside the apartment. She heard footsteps running down the hall, then a key turning in the lock. The door swung open to reveal a tall, handsome boy. His golden hair feathered around his head, falling slightly into his face. His eyes were a pure, luminous blue, like the colour at the heart of a flame. He was wearing a pair of tight, black jeans beneath a silk shirt that was the precise shade of his eyes. For a moment, Hikari thought that Yamato was visiting his mother and brother, before she realised that it was Takeru. 

The blood rushed to her cheeks. He must be thinking she had gone insane. She was only staring at him as if she had never seen him in the past, as if she had not seen him every day of her life for two years now. _But you've never seen him_, the same, little voice as before reminded her, _You might have looked at him in the past, but you've never seen him. You've never seen this._

"Uh, I thought you were your brother!" she blurted, "And - um - hi, Takeru." 

If her cheeks had felt warm before, they were on fire now. She could not believe what an idiot she was being. She was almost as bad as the girls in her class who flung themselves at Takeru, and she knew exactly what he thought of them. _Get a hold of yourself, Hikari. This isn't a date. Takeru is your best friend, and this isn't a date. _Fortunately, Takeru hadn't seemed to notice her discomfort. Or, if he had, he was too polite to mention it. 

"Blame Yamato. He insisted on helping me get ready," he told her, rolling his eyes, "The shirt is his, by the way, as is the hairgel." 

"Well, this is the Tachikawa Treatment," Hikari said with a false, little laugh, "Trademark." 

"And it's pink. Who would have expected that from Mimi?" he grinned, "I'm kidding. You look good, Hikari." 

"And you look wonderful," she replied softly, then clapped her hands over her mouth. She couldn't believe she had just said that. _Get a grip, girl. Get a grip._ At this rate, she was going to prove Mimi right about her 'real and deep feelings' for Takeru. It was all the older girl's fault. Before tonight, before Mimi's comments, she had not even thought of him as boyfriend material. He was too . . . too Takeru for that. 

Lowering her arms, she took a deep breath and smiled weakly at her best friend. Takeru laughed, clearly thinking she had been joking. 

"Because I look like Yamato? I'll have to tell him he has another groupie," he teased.

"Only if you want Sooooora to find out about the crush you had on her for almost two years," she replied in her sweetest tones, taking refuge in an old joke between them. 

"Blackmailer! You wouldn't dare!" he exclaimed, stepping aside to let her into his apartment before adding, "Miyako's already here. She's driving me insane with her panicking about the date." 

Following him, Hikari walked through the passage to the Takaishi's lounge. Her eyes widened when she saw Miyako sitting on the couch, her legs crossed and her hands folded in her lap. The older girl's lavender hair was taken back into a sleek, sophisticated twist, and she had a subtle suggestion of make-up on her face. She was wearing a long, black skirt slit up to her knees, and a Chinese-style shirt in white silk embroidered with purple flowers. She had evidently replaced her glasses with contact lenses too. She looked almost sixteen, graceful and sophisticated. Beside her, in her little, pink dress, Hikari felt very young and plain all of a sudden. She wished she had agreed to let Mimi do her face. 

"Hikari, you look wonderful," Miyako cooed, coming forward to hug her, then added in a low whisper: "And doesn't Takeru look hot?"

"And . . . you . . . you look so . . . grown-up," she stammered, returning the hug and trying to ignore her last comment. She noticed that Miyako was wearing perfume - a subtle, lavender fragrance that she was barely perceptible, but perfume nonetheless. Hikari suddenly felt even more underprepared for the date. Mimi hadn't even _thought_ of perfume.

"And, if you two don't look at the clock, we'll be late," Takeru said cheerfully, "Ken said to meet him at the cinema at half-past-seven, and we have a long way to hike." 

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	3. Popcorn Kisses

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The characters belong to Akiyoshi Hongo and Toei. I merely let them into my imagination to play for a bit.

I forgot to note in previous parts that this story is inspired by an episode of As Told By Ginger_ on Nick. (The only Nicktoon I watch, because that channel irritates me. All their shows could use a good dose of Ritalin.) If you've seen it, you'll know I mean the one where Ginger and Darren go to the movies, after Miranda convinces Ginger she's in love with with her best friend. _

I should also say I've been reading L.J.Smith recently, so the Vampire Prince Damon_ part was inspired by her rather fun, teen horrors. And the insistence of Takeru's eyes being so blue probably comes from Julian._

Thanks to all for reviews and birthday wishes! All of them were much appreciated! 

The next part should be up this weekend. I'm not that quick a writer, but I prewrote 90% of this story before posting parts 1 and 2. Consequently, I have another one or two paragraphs of chapter four to do, but, as I have exams, I make no promises.

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AS TOLD BY HIKARI

CHAPTER THREE OF FIVE

POPCORN KISSES

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I do not love thee! - yet, when thou art gone,

I hate the sound (though those who speak be dear)

Which breaks the lingering echo of the tone

Thy voice of music leaves upon my ear.

~ Lady Caroline Norton

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When they arrived at the cinema, Ken was already sitting on a bench outside and waiting for them. He was dressed simply in a charcoal polo-neck and black denims, but wore the clothes with such easy elegance that they seemed to have been tailored for him. His dark hair fell across his forehead, like a blackbird's wing, and shadowed his violet eyes. He stood when he saw them, and nodded his head in greeting. 

"Good evening, all of you," he said in his usual, quiet tones, "I'm glad you were able to join us, Takeru and Hikari. I took the liberty of buying the tickets while I was waiting for you. Miyako recommended _Vampire Prince Damon._"

"Sounds great," Takeru replied easily, "Yamato and Sora enjoyed it when they came to see it." 

"Taichi also liked it," Hikari added with a mischievous smile, "And he actually saw the screen for more than three seconds in between making out with his new girlfriend."

Her best friend stuck out his tongue at her, and she playfully swatted him with her bag. After her initial awkwardness, it was so nice to feel that everything was normal and comfortable between them again. If nothing else, the walk had helped to clear her head. It had just been so ordinary. They had talked about the up-coming test they had to write. They had gossipped about Mimi and Jyou. They had argued over the merits of SMAP's new release. They had even discussed Japan's chances in the World Cup. So far, then, it had been a night like any other night. It went to show that Takeru wasn't expecting this to be a real date any more than she was. _I was silly to let Mimi get to me like that. (1)_

Relief sweet within her, she turned her attention back to her companions. 

"I d-didn't think y-you would g-get tickets for that," Miyako was stammering. Hikari looked at her friend in surprise. She was crimson to the roots of her hair, and she was plucking at her long skirt in the way she always did when she was nervous. It was very strange. _She isn't scared of horror movies, is she?_

"But you said you wanted to see the film," Ken said, looking as puzzled as Hikari felt, "I can try to change them, if you wish." 

"It's f-fine," Miyako waved away his offer with a slightly shaky hand, "W-we'll see the movie. Hikari and Takeru want to see it, and it's th-their first d-date as well." 

"MIYAKO!" Hikari exclaimed, feeling heat rise to her cheeks. Her friend had the worst habit of saying whatever popped into her mind, never mind how humiliating or personal. She would chatter about her periods, her feelings for boys or her siblings' relationships as easily as she would talk about the weather. It was like her brain was permanently wired to broadcast. _And what if Takeru thinks I said it to her? What if he thinks . . . _Her cheeks grew even warmer, and she stared at the movie posters on the walls in sudden interest. 

Beside her, she heard Takeru begin to laugh. 

"You thought . . . .You didn't think . . . . Me and Hikari? Dating? Unless I've become Mikage Aki overnight, I don't think so," he turned to her with a wicked grin on his face, and offered her his hand, "Well, should we go and buy refreshments, angel feathers?" 

"'Angel feathers'?" she repeated in amusement, grateful that he had smoothed over a difficult situation. 

"It was that or 'sweetness and light'," he shrugged, "'Angel feathers' seemed less of a cliche. Anyway, refreshments?" 

"Y-you and K-ken get them, Takeru," Miyako replied, "I want t-to talk to Hikari." 

The youngest boy nodded, and made his way towards the refreshment counter on the other side of the cinema. With a final, confused look for Miyako, Ken followed him. Hikari could see her friend visibly relax as he left. 

"What's up with you?" she asked, puzzled.

"We're seeing a horror movie," Miyako hissed, "Do you have any idea what that means?"

"Lots of fake blood? Stupid girls in skimpy nightdresses? Killers in masks?" she suggested dryly, "I don't know. Enlighten me." 

"You're such a child, Hikari," she shook her head in disbelief, "Horror movies are the most romantic movies there are. When you get scared, you're supposed to cling onto your date. Or hold his hand at the very least." 

"And don't you want to hold Ken's hand?"

"I do, but it's a big step. When we've held hands, we'll be an Official Couple," Hikari could almost hear the capitals in Miyako's voice as she spoke. Still irritated from her friend's earlier outburst, she was about to bite back that it wasn't as big or obvious a step as coming as Mrs Ichijouji to their last fancy-dress party, but something in her friend's expression stopped her. For the first time she could remember, Miyako looked scared. 

Hikari could understand the emotion. It wasn't that her friend was afraid of being rejected by Ken. In his own, quiet way, he had made it clear that he loved her. Hikari remembered the time when they had all gone to view the cherry-blossoms in the park. Or, in Taichi and Daisuke's case, to stuff themselves with the delicacies that their parents only prepared for _hanami_. She was convinced her brother and friend were the inspiration behind the saying: _hana yori dango_. (2)

"I think sakura pink has to be the prettiest colour in the world," Mimi had sighed, as they had been resting beneath the trees after the picnic.

"_momo no hana, nokoru yuki ya - haru no yume_," Iori had countered in a dreamy voice, and everyone had groaned. The youngest of the Chosen Children had been unbearable since he had fallen in love with a girl by the name of Momoko. He spent all day walking around with his head in the clouds composing bad poetry about peaches and peach-blossoms. That would have been fine by itself, but he insisted on sharing it with all his friends. Hikari knew she would never be able to look at the fruit the same way.(3) 

"I love lavender," Ken had said softly, "Of all the colours, it is my favourite." 

As he had spoken, his eyes had slid sideways to where Miyako had been leaning against a tree and unwrapping a rice-ball with her teeth. When she had realised what he meant, however, she had lowered the food with a startled expression on her face, then had turned to him with a radiant smile, pink rising in her cheeks. 

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No, Hikari, thought, _there's no doubt that she knows he loves her and won't reject her. What she's scared of is what comes after that, what him not rejecting her means. A real relationship._

"It'll be okay," she said gently, "You'll do just fine." 

Before Miyako could reply, however, Takeru squeezed himself out of the crowd of people around the refreshment stand and walked back towards them. He was holding a paper cup in each hand, and had a large box of popcorn balanced in the crook of his arm. 

"One pink lemonade for my angel feathers," he said cheerfully, handing one of the cups to her, "And I hope you don't mind us sharing a popcorn." 

Hikari rolled her eyes at him as much for the pet-name as for the suggestion. Takeru and her shared a popcorn every time they went to the movies together. It was one of their best friend traditions. Of course, sharing was a euphemistic way of putting it. All-out warfare would have been closer to the truth, especially by the time they reached the last grains in the box. 

"Let me get that for you, because you paid for our tickets," she said, slinging her bag off her shoulder and rifling through it for her purse. 

He waved aside her offer of money. "Don't worry. Yamato gave me enough to cover everything tonight. He said that Taichi would beat both of us up, if I made you pay for anything. Me, for not being a gentleman. Him, for not teaching me better." 

"Still, I'm a modern woman," she argued, as she unzipped her purse and extracted enough money to cover the refreshments from it, "I insist, Takeru. And I promise I won't tell my brother."

Smiling at him, she waved the notes in front of his face. He hesitated for a moment, but then shrugged and took them from her. As his fingertips brushed her hand, she felt a little shiver run up her arm. _Static electricity? It can't be. _It was like she had been shocked, but the floor of the cinema was not carpeted and he was wearing rubber-soled shoes. She looked up at him, and had the same, strange sensation of not recognising him. She felt her heart thump in her chest. The boy standing in front of her was much older and much more handsome than she remembered her friend being. _And Takeru's eyes were never that blue, were they? _Then he grinned at her, and everything returned to normal. 

"Thanks," he slipped the money into his pocket, "I'll put it towards my hospital bills when Taichi finds out somehow. Anyway, when Ken gets back with your drinks, we better go in. From what the man at the refreshment stand said, it's about to start." 

* * *

"It can't be," the girl on the screen whispered as she frantically ripped the moss from the gravestone to reveal the inscription beneath it. A sudden flash of lightning lit up the large, black letters carved into it. DAMON BERGSTRAND. 1984-1999. All the blood drained from her face, leaving even her lips white, and she staggered backwards from the marker, "My boyfriend died three years ago!"

Unable to tear her eyes from the screen, Hikari's hand automatically went for the popcorn box that was wedged between Takeru's seat and her own. He had obviously had the same idea, because his hand brushed hers. It was warm and slightly rough from his years of playing basketball. She snatched her own away as if his touch had burnt her.

"Sorry," she felt compelled to say.

He shrugged, "No prob." 

Feeling like an idiot, she settled back into her seat and returned her attention to the screen. The girl was running towards the graveyard's entrance now, silhouetted against the wildly-flashing sky. She was screaming in terror, and tears poured down her face. Blinded by them, she did not see the tree-root that curled upwards in front of her. Her foot caught in it, sending her flying onto the floor. A dark figure rose behind her. It was Damon, but a very different Damon to the one seen in the past. His skin was as pale as marble, and his eyes flashed silver in his face. He wore shadow like a cloak. As he came to stand above the sobbing girl, he smiled at her, revealing wickedly pointed fangs.

"No! Don't!" she gasped, grabbing onto Takeru's hand and burying her head in his shoulder. On the screen, the girl screamed, but it seemed as distant as a nightmare. All that was real to her was his clean smell of soap, the slipperiness of skin-warmed silk against her cheek, the steady beat of his heart. It took a moment for the realisation of what she had done to hit her, and then the girl on the screen could not have been more horrified than she was. _I didn't . . . I didn't mean . . . Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god . . . . _

Tears of embarrassment pricking her eyes, she jumped to her feet and hurried towards the exit of the theatre. 

* * *

Sitting on the steps that led down from the theatre, Hikari wondered when everything had become so confusing. Just that morning, the relationship between her and Takeru had been so easy. They were best friends. They had always been best friends. That was where their story had begun and ended. Now, she had the horrible feeling that she was falling in love with him, and that there were whole chapters to the book that she had never imagined let alone read. 

She could still feel the warmth of his skin against her palm. If she turned over her hand, she wondered if she would see a mark on it, like a brand. It seemed impossible that this change could simply be inside herself. It was a tingle in her skin, a lightness in the turn of her heel, a new awareness about the curve of her lips. Surely anyone who looked at her could tell she had fallen in love for the first time in her life. _Surely Takeru could . . . _

Hikari's stomach suddenly grew cold and heavy, as she saw Takeru walking around the corner. He had obviously come to see what was wrong with her. After how she had been acting all evening, she was surprised he still wanted to be friends with her. No-one wanted to hang out with a nutcase, after all. 

"Hikari? Are you okay?" he had a concerned expression on his face, "You left so suddenly, and you've been acting strange all evening." 

"I'm sorry," she sighed, scooting across to let him sit next to her on the steps, "We should talk before you think I've gone insane. It's just . . . everyone's been saying that we'd make this great couple. And . . . I don't know what to think anymore. Maybe . . . maybe it's not so crazy. Or maybe I'm just going crazy myself." 

Beside her, Takeru remained silent. Hikari sneaked a sideways look at him from beneath the cover of her hair to gauge his reaction. He was fidgeting with the buttons of his shirt, undoing and redoing them, but his face was almost completely expressionless. She was struck again by how much like Yamato he could be at times. She wished he would say something, do something, react somehow. Even his laughter would be better than this. The silence between them seemed to stretch out into hours. 

Eventually, however, he broke it: "As you probably mean Mimi when you say everybody, I wouldn't worry about it. She's been saying that since we were eight, and that's just . . . well, weird," he shrugged, then grinned at her, "Besides, I think the world would stop spinning if you gave up on Upperclassman Aki." 

Hikari smiled weakly back at him. If she were honest with herself and she always was, she had barely thought about Mikage Aki since Miyako's stupid double date had begun. That was a sign of trouble in itself. Usually, she couldn't stop thinking about him. Now, the only thing that kept coming into her head was how very blue Takeru's eyes were. They were the same true, clear blue as the sky on a perfect autumn's day. She thought she could have looked into them forever and never grown tired of the colour. (4) 

"Earth to Space Cadet Hikari," he waved a hand in front of her face, "From your position somewhere in orbit, can you tell me if the world is still spinning?"

"I think it stopped a while ago," she whispered, her eyes closing as she leant forward to kiss him. It was a clumsy, awkward kiss by anyone's standards, but it was a kiss nonetheless. Takeru's lips were soft and warm, and salty from the popcorn. Her arms tightened around him, her left hand sliding up his back to rest on the nape of his neck. She could feel his pulse, beating beneath her fingertips. Around her, all the world fell away and left her alone with his heartbeat and the heat of his skin. There were only her and Takeru, her and . . . . She jerked back in sudden horror, eyes opening, realising exactly whom she was kissing. Takeru looked as shocked as she felt, lifting a hand to touch his lips. 

"Hikari?" 

Her humiliation acid in her stomach, Hikari snatched up her purse and ran towards the street without looking back. . . . 

* * *

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NOTES:

(1) SMAP are an incredibly famous Japanese group. They're probably the one Japanese group about which foreigners have heard, if only through them singing in Korea as part of the World Cup spirit of reconciliation between the two countries. World Cup Fever has affected even my stories! Ganbatte, Minami Afurika! ^.~

(2) _Hanami_ is one of my favourite Japanese traditions. Basically, people gather at various places in spring-time to admire the flowers and to eat huge amounts of food. Because some people are a lot more interested in the food than the blossoms, there's a Japanese saying _hana yori dango_, which literally means _dumplings rather than flowers. _In other words, it is human nature to put the practical above the aesthetic. 

(3) _momo no hana, nokoru yuki ya - haru no yume _= peach blossoms, left-over snow - a dream of spring. It took me five minutes to come up with a _haiku_ of this staggering badness. Momoko means peach-child. 

(4) If you're bilingual, you'll get the pun. If not, the Japanese for 'autumn sky' is _aki no sora_. _Sora_ is sky, and _aki_ is autumn. 

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	4. The Morning After the Night Before

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Of course Digimon belongs to me! And Batpigs do fly! ^.~ 

Thanks to and much candy for everyone who reviewed. Your comments do make my day. Comments on the Kenyako would also be great, though. They're not a couple I support - Miyashirou and Daiken all the way! - but I am trying to write them with some fairness. 

Answers to the challenge: Kasumi = Akane's older sister in Ranma 1/2. Aya = Aki's younger sister. Chichiri = Fushigi Yuugi shichiseishi no da! ^.~

I don't know when the next part will be up. I have four exams in three days next week, so I don't want to make any promises. Possibly in a fortnight? (But you really can't complain about me not updating this one promptly!)

* * *

****

AS TOLD BY HIKARI

PART FOUR OF FIVE

'THE MORNING AFTER THE NIGHT BEFORE' 

* * *

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I do not love thee! - yet thy speaking eyes,

With their deep, bright, and most expressive blue,

Between me and the midnight heaven arise,

Oftener than any eyes I ever knew. 

~ Lady Caroline Norton

* * *

"Hikari, Miyako's here to see you."

Rolling over onto her side, Hikari ignored her mother's knock on her door. After Takeru, Miyako was the one person she most did not want to see. She didn't want to think about what had happened last night, let alone talk about it. All she wanted to do was stay in bed with her blankets over her head and pretend the rest of the world did not exist and last night had never happened.

Hikari buried her head into her pillow and groaned. Why did her stupid memory keep throwing up what a good kisser Takeru was? She kept coming back to the warm softness of his lips, the blue clarity of his eyes, the taste of salty popcorn, the down-softness of his hair beneath her fingers . . . She squeezed her eyes shut against the memory. She could not think about Takeru that way. He was her best friend in the whole world. She could not let herself be in love with him, although she had a feeling it was too late for that. _Think about something safe. Think about Aki._

Desperately, she forced herself to summon up the boy on whom she had officially been crushing for almost two months now. She made herself remember his twilight-blue eyes; the sweep of his blond hair; his triumphant smile. He was grinning at her, as if she were the only girl in the world, as if she were the only thing he needed to be complete. Hikari relaxed, folding her arms on her stomach and letting her breathing calm. It was a mistake. The image dissolved. Suddenly, she was in Takeru's arms and he was smiling down at her and he was bending down to . . . .

"Don't think you're weaseling out of this so easily, Yagami Hikari," an angry voice screeched, as the duvet was ripped off of her. Blinded by the sudden light, Hikari blinked up at a furious Miyako. Her friend's mouth was a tight, white line of anger, and there were bright spots of crimson on both of her cheeks. Her glasses flashed in the sun. Hikari opened her mouth to protest, but Miyako cut her off by launching into a furious tirade. 

"How dare you and Takeru sneak out on me like that last night and leave me all alone with Ken? I suppose you two thought it was hilarious! It wasn't! You knew how nervous I was about this date, you knew I needed a friend, and you let me down! You had better have a very good reason for it, Hikari, or . . ." she trailed off threateningly. 

"I kissed him," she said tiredly, "Now I've messed everything up." 

Miyako's anger seemed to evaporate in an instant. Motioning for Hikari to move over and sit up, she settled beside her on the bed and stared at her in open disbelief: "You kissed Takeru?" 

Head resting on her knees, Hikari stared at her bare feet. Her toe-nails still had pink, glittery polish on them from the previous night. It seemed a very long time since Mimi had helped her get ready for her date, "Yeah."

"Was it nice?" Miyako asked curiously. 

"Very," she admitted in an anguished voice, "But that makes it even worse, Miyako. He's my best friend. I'm not supposed to be kissing him. I'm certainly not meant to be thinking about him in that way." 

"Why not?" Miyako asked, twirling a strand of lavender-coloured hair around her fingers, then added in confiding tones, "My big sister says best friends make the best boyfriends, and she should know. She's dating a boy she's known since she was five." 

Hikari sank against her pillow, "But it's Takeru. Takaishi Takeru. . . ."

"Who is sweet, wonderful and completely gorgeous, as if you haven't noticed," she finished, "He's perfect boyfriend material."

"I guess," she conceded reluctantly.

"Good," she beamed, slipping her handbag off her shoulder and rummaging through it. After a few moments, she extracted a small, pink cell-phone from it and tapped a number out on it. Holding it against her ear, she flashed a bingo sign at her friend. Hikari suddenly realised in horror what the other girl intended on doing. 

"Miyako! No!" she reached for the cell-phone, but Miyako stood and twirled smartly out of her reach. Hikari leapt to her feet to make another grab at it, but it was too late. 

"Takeru?" her friend said brightly into her phone, "Hi! I'm at Hikari's place and she wants to talk to you. I'll put her on now. Bye-e!" 

Still grinning, Miyako thrust the phone at her. Hikari snatched it from her hands and glared at her, hating her friend for putting her in this position. She did not know what she was going to say to him to explain her actions last night, but she knew if she refused to speak to him their relationship would be even weirder. It wasn't like she could avoid him forever with them being in the same class. It was time to take a page from Taichi's book and face up to the inevitable with courage.

"H-hi, Takeru," she greeted him weakly.

"Hikari," he replied, sounding almost as nervous, "Miyako said you wanted to talk?" 

"I . . . ." she shifted nervously on the spot, wrapping her left leg around her right, like a flamingo. She suddenly caught sight of herself in the mirror. She was small, thin and pale; ridiculous in a pair of oversized, cow-print pyjamas. There was no way Takeru would want to go out with her. As Miyako had said, he was almost as gorgeous as he was sweet. She had seen that last night, and she knew he could have any girl at school. There was no reason why he would choose her. No, the only chance she had of staying in his life was as his friend, his childhood friend. No other girl could be that for him. 

"I want to say that I'm sorry about last night. I've been under a lot of stress lately. . . And I guess I freaked out on you." 

Sitting on her bed, Miyako made a disgusted face at her and mouthed that she was a chicken. Hikari could not disagree with her. She was a coward. She did not have the courage to follow her heart either with Aki or with Takeru. She was too afraid of being hurt. Her brother would have been ashamed of her. 

"I guess I understand." 

To her surprise, he sounded disappointed, like he had wanted her to say something else to him. _Like he wanted me to say the kiss meant something . . . _

A half-forgotten memory stirred within her. They had been sitting around her kitchen table, working on a project for school. She had glanced up from her books to ask him something, and had caught him watching her with a strange, almost painful look in his eyes. It had been the way she had seen Taichi look at Sora when he thought she did not see him. Not knowing what to think, she had flushed in confusion, and dropped her gaze back to her work. Then, Takeru had cracked one of his atrocious, homework jokes - 'Why does a square root?' 'Because it wants to support its team' - and everything had returned to normal between them. She had put the look out of her mind long ago, but it came back to her now. Was she the reason he had turned down all the other girls who had wanted to go out with him? 

Hikari suddenly felt very calm. Inside herself, everything had stilled to silence, and she recognized it as the quiet that preceded action. For the first time in two days, she had no doubts about what she was going to do.

After a long pause, Takeru added with a little laugh, "Anyway, you probably mistook me for Aki in the dark." 

It was a cue of sorts, and she took it. 

"Actually," she said slowly, "I think I mistook Aki for you. I think I had a crush on him, because he was so much like you. It was a safe way of . . . of loving you without putting our friendship at risk." 

A smile spreading across her face, Miyako leaned forward on the bed. 

"Hika -", he began. 

"Let me finish," she cut him off in the middle of her name, "I don't know if I'll be able to work up the guts again, if I don't. I think I do have feelings for you. I think I've had them for a long time, but I convinced myself they weren't anything more than friendship, because they scared me. I was scared of losing you, or of things becoming weird between us if we started dating. I guess I'm still scared of that, but I can't keep denying my feelings. So, here goes . . . I love you. I want you to be my boyfriend. I hope you feel the same about me, but I understand if you think we should stay friends and I suppose I'll find a way to deal with my feelings." 

Her own calm amazing her, she pressed the phone tighter to her ear and waited for him to answer. Miyako might have gotten up off the bed and have been wearing away the rug by pacing from one end to another, but the quiet inside Hikari had not changed. It was like all thought and emotion had been suspended until he spoke. 

"I love you too," he said simply, and warmth rose to fill her.

"You do?"

"I do." 

* * *

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	5. Epilogue: In Concert

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07/02: This is a rewrite of the epilogue. I had my doubts about posting the original version, but couldn't think of anything better, so went ahead with it. Anyway, inspiration struck last night, and I rewrote most of it. Hope you prefer it, although I'm sure you will. And I even remembered and included eunc's request for more teasing about Sora\Yamato! 

Actually, the characters do belong to me. I came up with this great concept about kids who go to a Digital World where they receive partners which I might call 'Digimon'. Wacky, huh? I just have to sell it to a company now. ^.~ 

I'm glad so many of you have enjoyed the story so far. Thank you for all your feedback. It's greatly appreciated.

To mark the occasion, you should make this chapter a multimedia experience! Download Tobira - the title means sliding door, as opposed to a western-style door which is doa - from http://www.digitalyume.com and have it playing in the background on your MP3 player. You won't be sorry. It's the most amazing song. ^.^ 

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AS TOLD BY HIKARI

PART FIVE OF FIVE

'IN CONCERT' 

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I know I do not love thee! yet, alas!

Others will scarcely trust my candid heart;

And oft I catch them smiling as they pass,

Because they see me gazing where thou art.

~ Lady Caroline Norton

"I don't think the Teenage Wolves have too much to worry about," Takeru said to Hikari, as they made their way out of the crush of the crowd into the road. She was holding onto his hand tightly to avoid being separated from him in the chaos. There had been a free, open-air concert that evening at the park, with a number of local bands and singers, and most of Odaiba had turned out to attend it and, more specifically, to see Yamato's band perform. None of the other acts had come close. Behind them, as if in recognition of that fact, a tinny, recorded version of Tobira played over the speakers. 

"I thought Aya did well," Hikari replied loyally. It wasn't exactly a lie. Her friend did have a good voice: pure, sweet and soprano. Unfortunately, however, she knew it and wasn't shy when it came to telling people about it. Introducing herself as 'the singing princess of Odaiba Junior High' hadn't helped her popularity very much. (1)

"Don't you mean Princess Aya?" he laughed. 

"Takeru!" 

"My most humble apologies, Queen Hikari," he said in mock contrition, and she rolled her eyes at his use of the Numemon's old name for her. (2) Takeru could be impossible at times, and their shared past gave him plenty of ammunition for teasing her. Of course, she wasn't exactly defenceless in that respect herself. She was just dredging her memory for a suitably embarrassing incident to mention, when he grinned at her and squeezed her hand reassuringly. She flushed as she realised that they were still holding hands, even though they had left the crowds behind some blocks ago. They were the only people on their street, in fact, and Hikari was suddenly aware of how very alone they were. Stammering an apology, she made to let his hand go, but felt his fingers tighten against her palm. 

"You can, but . . . please don't," he said softly, his own cheeks going pink, "This is our first date, I know, but . . . . but I really like holding hands with you." 

"Me too," she admitted, lacing her fingers with his and giving his hand a tight squeeze of her own, "It feels right." 

Smiling up at him, she thought how right this whole evening had been. She had expected their relationship to be completely different now that they were dating, but it wasn't. It had changed, yes, but it still had everything that had been good about their old relationship. They still understood each other perfectly, still were able to speak openly, still trusted each other completely, still were each other's best friends. There was just a new sweetness to it that there hadn't been in the past. It was like love had opened out of friendship, as surely and as naturally as a spring flower. 

"And Yagami Hikari spaces out again," Takeru said in a more normal voice, "Daydreaming about Yaaamaaato, are you?" 

"His little brother, actually," Hikari replied archly, "I've heard he's in love with Takenouchi Sora, though, so I don't think I've got any chance with him." 

"You might be right," he said with a mischievous smile, "_I've_ heard he goes for older women, especially brunettes. There's this one girl in particular, although I'm not sure who she is. I think he might even love her . . . ." 

"Isn't that lucky? I think she feels the same way about him," she tilted her head, pretending to consider something, "Or was that his older brother? I've heard he's hot." 

Takeru's only reply was to laugh. 

*

"I finished off by telling him that, if he even looked at her the wrong way, you wouldn't need to look very far for a soprano singer for your band," Taichi said to Yamato, waving a french fry for emphasis. They were sitting together in a booth at McDonalds, eating supper. Having just come from the concert in the park, Yamato had his guitar propped up next to him. However, unlike the other teenagers in the restaurant who were wondering whether that was actually the lead singer for the _Teenage Wolves_ and whether he was really sitting with Odaiba High's top striker, their main topic of discussion at the moment was The Date. 

"Good speech, but you should've saved it for your sister," his friend laughed, "She needs it a whole lot more than Takeru does, if Friday night was any indication. Hell, I should be worried she'll corrupt my sweet, innocent little brother." 

Taichi grimaced and bit into his fry. Miyako had told him what had happened on Friday night. Of course, he had known something was wrong from the moment his sister had come home. She hadn't even said hello to him, just run to their room and locked the door behind her. And his best attempts to find out what had happened had all met with muffled sobs. He had guessed she had seen Upperclassman Aki with another girl. He could have never imagined that she had kissed Takeru. 

"It's weird to think they're old enough to be dating, let alone kissing." 

"Tell me about it," Yamato raised his eyebrows, "I still don't know when Takeru got taller than me." 

Taichi sipped at his milkshake, but he barely tasted it. In his mind, it was six years ago and he was sitting by the campfire watching Takeru and Hikari sleep. The picture of innocence, they were curled up next to each other, like kittens, with Tailmon and Patamon between them. Takeru was smiling at some happy dream, while Hikari had a serious frown on her face. The firelight cast a soft, orange glow over them. The clearing was completely silent apart from their quiet breathing and the wind-music in the trees. _Who would have thought things would have turned out like this? It just shows the universe gets things right sometimes. _

Finally, he said: "I'm glad. I'm glad Hikari chose him in the end." 

His friend laughed, "You're just glad because Takeru hero-worships you, Taichi, and would do anything you said." 

"He'd better, if he knows what's good for him, because I meant every word of that speech . . . ." 

*

"Trade you a lick of your strawberry cone for my chocolate one?" Takeru asked Hikari, as they walked down the street eating ice-creams. She rolled her eyes, but held out hers to him. 

As far back as she could remember, they had always shared their cones. It was a tradition that had started one holiday when Takeru had been visiting his father and their brothers had taken them to the fair. As she remembered it, they had been nine at the time. Her ice-cream had dropped on the floor, and neither Taichi nor Yamato had had enough money to buy her another one. She had been about to cry, when Takeru had presented her with the sticky, slightly grubby remnants of his orange popsicle and told her that he didn't want her to be sad. The next time, it had been her who had given him a taste of her vanilla scoop. Over the years, it had become a best friend tradition, and refusal wasn't an option when it came to those. The same, sudden sweetness rushed up inside her, as she realised she might have to start thinking of them as boyfriend\girlfriend traditions now. 

Grinning his thanks, Takeru took her ice-cream and handed his own to her. They continued down the street in silence, licking at their cones. The shops were beginning to close, their windows darkening one by one. Outside one of them, an old man was sweeping the pavement in readiness for the next day. The hush of his broom against the concrete was the only noise in the place. As they passed him, he lifted his hand to greet her, a smile creasing his cheeks. She recognised him as Mr Tajiri, the owner of the corner store near her apartment. With a jolt of disappointment, she realised that she was almost home. She thought she could have walked all night with Takeru. 

Before long, nonetheless, they had come to her apartment block. Unwilling to let his hand go, she led him up its steps into the shelter of the doorway. The electric light seemed to halo around him as she turned to face him. She felt her breath catch in her throat: every detail of his face seemed thrown into clear focus, and he was beautiful. The strands of golden hair that feathered his forehead. The pure, true blueness of his eyes. The small, white scar on his left cheek. She wondered how she had ever been able to look at him and see only the child she had known. Takeru cleared his throat, and she realised that she was staring at him. Strangely, she was unembarrassed at being caught out by him. _He's mine to stare at_. The possessiveness of the thought surprised her. _God,_ _I'm almost as bad as . . . as Daisuke! _

"I guess this is good night," she said with a smile, "I'll see you at school tomorrow." 

"You have ice-cream on your face, angel feathers," he laughed and reached out a hand to brush it off of her. As he touched her, however, his smile faltered for a second, the strangest look coming into his blue eyes. It was the same look she had seen when she had lifted her head from her books to catch him watching him. She was suddenly aware of how alone they were, now that they had ducked into the atrium. His hand paused on her cheek, then came around to cup her chin. Hikari felt her heart hop in her chest. She knew beyond all doubt that they were going to kiss, and that this time she would not run away when they did. 

And she didn't. 

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